Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • Page 28

D2 LIFE SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2007 DECATUR, ILLINOIS www.herald-review.com HUNT Thanksgiving travel does not always lead home to mom 'J rrriri 111111s" Disney menus year-round. Among the more unusual Thanksgiving traditions at Walt Disney World Resort is a gathering of some 20 families at the park's Fort Wilderness Resort Campground. For more than 30 years, they've been erecting a village of tepees there and cooking several dozen turkeys in big open pits. "Our kids look forward to it more than Christmas," said Karen Butler, who drives with her husband from Georgia to take part in the event. "It's real family time." In California, the annual San Diego Thanksgiving Dixieland Jazz Festivale, featuring two dozen Dixieland bands, takes place Nov.

21 to 25. And wine-lovers can spend Thanksgiving Day aboard the Napa Valley wine train, which offers lunch and dinner excursions; details at 1-800-427-4124. Finally, if for some reason you'd prefer to celebrate this most American of holidays on the other side of the Atlantic, head to Italy. Francesca Bor-tolotto Possati, the owner of the Bauer Hotel in Venice, lived in America for many years and holds a traditional Thanksgiving meal at the hotel each year for guests and friends www.bauer-venezia.com. Rates begin at $2,500 for a four-night stay.

Associated Press This photo provided by Walt Disney World shows the tepee village campers erect each year around Thanksgiving at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. By BETH J. HARPAZ AP Travel Editor NEW YORK Thanksgiving is always one of the busiest travel times of the year. But not everybody is heading home to mom. Some folks go skiing, some head to Orlando or Vegas, others cram the streets of New York and Chicago to watch parades.

And some far-flung families gather at a hotel instead of grandma's house. "We literally have generations of families that come for Thanksgiving. It's our busiest weekend of the year," said Clark Albright, director of marketing at Camelback Inn in Scottsdale, Ariz. www.camelbackinn.com where guests get a whole bird carved at their table rather than going through a buffet. In Massachusetts, more than 70,000 people visit Plimoth Plantation each November to learn about life among Colonial settlers and the native Wampanoags more commonly known as Pilgrims and Indians.

Here you'll find costumed interpreters plucking the feathers off real turkeys and chatting about a harvest celebration that took place in 1621. Plimoth also hosts a variety of Thanksgiving celebrations, including a Victorian-style dinner where President Lincoln's 1863 proclamation declaring Thanksgiving to be a national holiday is read aloud. Other holiday meals at Plimoth include a walk-in courtyard buffet ($37.95 including admission to the historic site), a more formal buffet "1627 Dine With the Pilgrims" ($55.95) and an "Eat Like a Pilgrim" program ($38.95, eating with fingers encouraged). The Victorian dinner ($79.95) is sold out for Thanksgiving Day, but seatings were added for the day after. Check availability and make reservations at www.plimoth.org or 1-800-262-9356 ext.

8364, 8365 or 8366. The Sunday after Thanksgiving is the historic site's last day of the season. In New York, the balloons and floats of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade attract thousands of spectators. If you'd rather avoid the crowded streets or the weather which can range from balmy to freezing you can watch GUIDING Continued from D1 brand items. Often as he would be inspecting a manufacturing plant, they would stop the processing line, change the container labels from the name brand to the private label and start up the line again.

All store brands are not going to be acceptable, but most grocery stores have a satisfaction-guarantee policy. If you don't like it, return the item to the store for a full refund or exchange it for a brand you do enjoy. That's not being a difficult customer; that's the way to become a savvy consumer! Mary Hunt can be reached at maryeverydaycheapskate.com or Everyday Cheapskate, Box 2135 Paramount, CA 90723. Bee Movie (PG) Oaity Sat Sun Mat Fri Sat Late Show MO Elizabeth: The Golden Age (PG-13) Daily Sat Sun Mat Fri Sat Late Show 9:10 AMERICAN GANGSTER SUN (1:00) (4:30) 8:00 BEE MOVIE (Pfi) SUN (1 1:45 AM) (2:30) (5:00) 7:15 MON thru THURS 6:35 THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES (R) SUN (12:00) (3:30) 7:00 MON thru THURS 6:30 www. TheAvon torn 426 Wot- Downtown Deeotw filial vvcctu juui rnaocn ii i r-r a rrn Li All airfare 3 niahts San Diego, Harbor Cruise Wild Animal Park 3 niahts aboard ti Norwegian i TOUR DEPARTS URBANA, 1 DECATUR AND DANVILLE 1 i tha professionals 1 875-5640 3008 N.

WateV St? BRETTVV00D VILLAGE tvvnnn i the spectacle from inside the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle. The building has four floors of glass windows, and some of its stores will be open Thanksgiving Day if you want a head start on Christmas shopping. Chicago has its own Thanksgiving Day parade, with 300,000 people lining State Street to watch. Denver shows up in top 10 lists for both Orbitz and Trav-elocity for Thanksgiving travel bookings, and skiing is undoubtedly part of the reason. Slopes scheduled to open Nov.

22 or earlier include Aspen Mountain, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Crested Butte, Snowmass, Telluride and Vail. "It's a great time ski because the weather is still relatively mild compared with the dead of winter, so we get a lot of families that enjoy that," said Nick Bohnenkamp, with Colorado Ski Country USA. "Our largest resorts open up in November to cater to that crowd that wants to come out here for the four-day weekend." Rich Grant, with the Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the state's iconic natural surroundings draws tourist ready for the perfect early winter scene. "It's the Norman Rockwell effect," he said. "People associate Colorado with evergreen forests and gathering everybody around a big fireplace." The glitz and glam of Vegas may not remind you of hearth and home, but you'll have plenty of distractions to keep you from pining for mom's apple pie.

Restaurants offering Thanksgiving meals include Top of the World at the Stratosphere; Spago at Caesars Palace; David Burke at the Venetian; the Eiffel Tower Restaurant at the Paris; and MIX at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay. Tony Bennett and Wayne Newton both are in town for shows, and the Bellagio Conservatory has a spectacular autumn-themed scene on display through Nov. 24, complete with a 35-foot-tall cider mill, babbling brook, a bed of pumpkins and 1,000 red and green apples. Information is at www.vegas.com. You can celebrate Thanksgiving with a horse and carriage ride at the landmark Biltmore estate in Asheville, N.C., which will be decorated for Christmas by then.

For meals, you have a choice of venues Bistro, Deerpark or Stable Cafe, or, if you're staying at the Inn on Biltmore Estate, you can have your turkey at The Dining Room. Three-night packages at the Inn start at $1,760 for two; details are at www.biltmore.com. In St. Augustine, the local version of Thanksgiving is actually celebrated in September, commemorating a feast held more than 440 years ago by Spanish colonial settlers and native Timucuan Indians. The November holiday gets its due as well in restaurants around the historic city, but some chefs reinterpret traditional Thanksgiving fare to incorporate seafood and Spanish influences.

For example, the menu at the Reef of St. Augustine, one of the city's oceanfront restaurants www.thereefs-taugustine.com will feature turkey, ham and stuffing but also Minorcan clam chowder, a regional specialty that has a tomato broth and peppers; oysters and shrimp; Spanish salads and paella-style casserole. "Not necessarily the authentic 16th century Spanish menu," said general manager Jeremy Tice-hurst, "but we do make efforts to infuse the flavors of our Spanish heritage and freshest local ingredients into our menu when planning special events." With kids off from school and families getting together, Thanksgiving is naturally a busy time at Walt Disney World. The park serves more than 100,000 pounds of turkey during November, from elaborate Thanksgiving meals at the park's sit-down restaurants to turkey drumsticks, a popular a la carte item on PLEASE CALL THEATRE OR VISIT Ua K5NLINE FOR MOVIES AND SHOWTIMESl Ml HATMRfS MC1HK PRE-f ATUB CONTENT www.Garmixe.coim FRFF TRAVEL SHOWS Thursday, Nov. 10:00 AM 2:00 PM Holiday RECEIVE A $50 HOLIDAY r.nuPON 5170 Wingate DECATUR vr shows I 1 JM.fl I A IITO i TiTilH UTif: Hi ifeii'i-A'ji'jHrr-l-r Take the stress out of planning your admissions process, so when they get to the campus and talk to counselors there, they're hearing the same thing she told them on the trip.

She, too, has to deal with occasional personal conflicts in the students' lives. "A lot of what you do is listen to venting," she said. "Sometimes kids just need a place to go. Maybe they're upset about something at home, they had a fight with their boyfriend, something didn't go their way, and they just need someone to listen to them." Quite often, if she simply listens, the student will work out his or her own solution during the venting, she said. MacArthur High School counselor Joanna Parish has files of student portfolios to keep updated.

Students keep track of standardized test scores, which courses they've taken and the grades they received, how many credits they've earned, honors and awards, extracurricular activities, every possible detail they might need. When students leave after graduation, they have a complete record of their high school years to show to colleges and potential employers, she said. Valerie Wells can be reached at vwells or 421-7982. Continued from D1 At Argenta-Oreana, students have a four-year plan which is updated every year. "They have a direction and kind of make a connection between what they're doing as a freshman and where they want to be when they're out of high school," she said.

She takes groups of students on college visits, and while she has them "trapped" on the bus, she gives them talks on the only to gather and organize such information. Darci had been initially reluctant to meet with Taylor, but after only minutes of Taylor's gentle and skillful guidance, she was relaxed and smiling. Valerie Wells can be reached at vwellsierald-review. com or 421-7982. Call IfV When Taylor asked Darci to list the things she might put on a resume, Darci was stumped until Taylor asked more questions and discovered Darci has a long list of community service and personal accomplishments and nearly all of her classes have been advanced placement and honor courses.

Taylor told her everyone needs a resume, if TV rammmmm DREAMS Continued from D1 realizing their dreams will have to change. This year, MacArthur shifted to small learning communities. Each grade level is its own academy, with a counselor and administrator of its own, and part of that shift is the College and Career Center. Tucked into a spacious office in the school library, Taylor plans to meet with students individually and with students and their parents to plan their careers. Soon she'll have computers installed which will allow students to use Career Cruising, software that pinpoints the pros and Big 3L.

WJttiL BRITISH I TkIkI IK Til ww miwi www cons of various careers and a student's suitability for them. Students also will be able to research colleges and scholarships online and even apply to schools. Meeting with senior Darci Schultz, Taylor asked leading questions to find out what Darci's academic and volunteer history is and to help the young woman figure out what she wants to do with her life. Darci teaches swimming at the Greater Decatur and said she likes working with kids but isn't as fond of teaching. Taylor suggested she consider some kind of social services work.

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